Silent Hill - Bereavement
by Dast
Summary: Taking place at current time, a family of two head of to start a new life, only to be sucked into hell itself. The story follows Derek, a teenager, plagued with a mystery of his own. Will he find his way out of Silent Hill, or die trying? I do not own Silent Hill, copyright to it's respected owners.
1. Chapter One - Highway 40

Chapter 1 – Highway 40

"Did we really have to take a bus?" Derek asked, as he stored luggage in a wrack above. The bus was filthy, it stank of piss and vomit, most of which was due to the man pissing in the corner, and a mother trying to comfort her young daughter, as she vomited into a waste bucket.

"It was our last, and only option, we went over this before Derek." His mother answered, as she took a seat on the cushioned bench, ignoring the faint pop of a spring shooting loose.

"I would have rather stayed home." Derek responded, sitting down next to his mother, and groaning as a spring pinched into his backside, causing him to stand up, and scoot down the bench further.

'That isn't home anymore." His mother said with a sigh, as she curled up the best she could on the broken down seat.

Derek nodded sadly, and pressed his face up against the dirty glass of window, doing so, caused his dark bangs to fall into his eyes, he pushed them back up without hesitation. The sound of the heavy wind bet against the wounded old glass, and Derek could faintly see fog roll in. A storm must be coming, Derek thought to himself, as he continued to stare out the window. It was then he saw something twisted, almost like something you would read about in a horror story. Though he only caught a glimpse of it out of the window, Derek was sure it was real.

Up front, the bus driver, reached down for his coffee, in the short second of his eyes not being on the road, another creature, almost identical to the one Derek had seen, managed to walk out into the road. As the bus driver steadied himself into his seat again, and took a sip of his coffee, it was too late to swerve safely, and when he did, the driver caused the bus to skid onto the shoulder of the road, but the shoulder wasn't strong enough to support the weight, and began to crumble.

"Dammit! HOLD ON." The bus driver screamed, just as the ground gave way, causing the bus to tip over, and take a deathly plummet off the highway.


	2. Chapter Two - Static

Chapter Two  
-Static-

Derek awoke several hours later on a rocky shore of some kind of misty beach. It felt like his head weighed several thousand pounds, and his body moved so sluggishly, he wasn't surprised if he had ingested some of the rocks on the shore. His body ached, and some kind of sticky substance, which he figured was blood, layered his face. When Derek rose to his feet, he expected to see a mangled version of the bus, somewhere on the beach, but there wasn't which surprised him. Could his body really have been thrown that far with only receiving a bleeding cut as damage? Derek, didn't think this was likely.

"Hello!" Derek shouted into the foggy air, but received no answer back, except a short static groan, that came from somewhere in front of him. Derek walked forward, almost stepping upon his phone. As he bent down to pick it up, he was surprised to see only the 'Apple' logo was in view, and the ability to make a call wasn't there, not even an emergency call. The phone was smashed up pretty badly, the screen had multiple cracks, and the back panel of the phone was nearly off. It was a surprise it sill worked.

Derek retrieved the phone from the ground, and returned it to its rightful place, in his pocket, as soon as he did though, it began to emit strange static, which caused him to withdraw the phone from his pocket once more, and stare at it. 'I must be imagining things', Derek said to himself, but just as he finished thinking this, he heard a distinctive groan behind him. Directly behind him. Derek turned to find a mangled creature, like the one he saw on the road before the bus crashed, but this one, was different. As soon as Derek was about to open his mouth to speak to it, the creature exhaled some sort of toxic gas, in which Derek directly inhaled. The gas caught in this throat, clouding his vision, and burning his lungs with such pain, that it brought tears to his eyes. Derek stumbled backwards, tripping over a rock, and landing hard to the ground, once he did, the creature unleashed a sharp cry, and dove for him. Derek managed to pick up a rock on the sand bed just in time, and swung, clipping the creature in the face, it groaned in pain, and Derek kept swinging, after many cries of pain from the creature it died, and miraculously as soon as it did, Derek's vision returned, the burning stopped, and he could breathe fine again.

Derek stood to his feet, and as soon as he did, the creature, in which he thought was dead, crawled away at a fast pace, turned around, and came back for the young man. Derek raised his foot, and implanted it into the head of the creature as soon as it was close enough. When he did, a pool of blood shot from the creature, staining Derek's clothes, and causing him to release a sigh of disgust from his mouth. "What the hell was that thing?" Derek said to himself, as he turned around, picking up the phone that fell from his hand when the creature poisoned him.

Derek retuned his phone to his pocket, and turned to see, what he thought was, a little girl running off into the fog. Derek saw this as relief, that maybe possibly the creature was just a figment of his imagination from so much blood loss. He saw the little girl as hope, hope that there was a town nearby, and that in it, there was people, who could help him. "Hey, wait up!" Derek called to the little girl, running after her, into the fog.


	3. Chapter Three - Stella

Chapter Three  
- Stella -

Derek raced after the little girl, intent on finding her, but as soon as he entered the thick fog, he left it, and found himself in a quaint little town, and like the beach before hand, it was also, shrouded in fog. "Hello?" Derek called out into the quiet, but got no answer in return. Derek sighed, and continued onwards, it was then, that his cell phone began to buzz with static once again, and before him, stood another creature. Derek's breath caught in his throat, and he quickly turned to the nearest building, and slipped quietly inside of it.

The house was empty, and had been for quite some time, that was for sure. A musty smell of moth balls and dust came to Derek, which turned his stomach. Derek continued onwards in the house, and found his way into a kitchen. A small table sat in one corner, as well as a joining kitchen off of it. Derek's focus caught onto a notepad, sitting neatly on a small table, in front of a mirror. Everything besides the mirror was still intact, and Derek leaned down, to read the notepad. 'Something….Something isn't right about this town….Hell, I wish it was a dream, I wish I was back in my car, and I wish I would have went back home…If I had, none of this would have happened. Dammit Cheryl, where are you?' The message was written in haste, and Derek wondered if the note was for somebody, or if it was a way to get stuff of the writers mind. One thing Derek new for sure though, people were here before, and hopefully, survived.

Derek continued to search the house after reading the note, he would need medical supplies, some sort of weapon if he wished to survive against the creatures, and water, fresh water, but sadly, the only water the house offered, was tap water, and when Derek tried to use that, his stomach turned in disgust as the only water that poured out, was brown. Luckily though, Derek did find a suitable weapon when he searched the house, it was a heavy, twelve inch wrench, heavy enough to hurt, and easy enough to swing. In his search as well, he found a first aid kit, which had medical swabs, which he used to clean his face, he then applied a band-aid to the still slowly bleeding wound he had on his forehead, also in his searching, he found a worn and tattered, yet, useable back-pack, which he strapped to himself, putting the first aid kit into it, and the wrench in his pocket, before he found the courage to leave again.

When Derek left the house, he saw, what appeared to be, a woman, no, a girl, running towards him, and behind her, was a creature, staggering, but keeping up pace. "PLEASE, HELP." The girl called, as she ran towards him, tripping over her feet, and landing on the ground. Derek ran to her, pulling the wrench out of his pocket, and swinging it at the creatures face multiple times, it eventually fell over, and that was when Derek kept hitting it, when blood sprayed, it laid still.

"Thank you, thank you so much." The girl said, pulling herself to her feet, she had long blonde hair, that followed over her neck and shoulders, she wore a pink sweater, and tattered jeans. Her eyes, were crystal blue, and were distinctive.

"It's not a problem, you're the first person I've met so far, that well, wasn't disgusting looking and other worldly, it would have been a shame to see you die." Derek said back, returning the now bloodied wrench to his jean pocket.

"Well, thanks none the less." The girl said with a sweet smile, and Derek nodded in return.

"I'm Stella." The girl said.

"Derek." He responded.


	4. Chapter Four - Alchemilla

Chapter Four  
-Alchemilla-

After the confrontation with the creature, Derek and Stella continued down the street, they were quite for awhile, but eventually, opened up, and started talking small talk back and forth to one another. It was here, that Derek realized that Stella was secretive, due to her short answers that didn't give much detail, he wondered why exactly, but then, he remembered where they were, and understood why she was so secretive. As they continued onwards, the fog got denser, just before opening up to a cliff side. Derek stopped suddenly, and slowly walked towards the Cliffside, before realizing, that it wasn't a cliff, but, that the ground had suddenly dropped off into darkness.

"That isn't normal." Derek said, dropping to his knees, and kneeling over the side of the road, it seemed like it was bottomless, and that it went all the way, straight to hell.

"All the roads are like this, it's almost like the town doesn't want you to leave." Stella responded, as she too, gazed down into pit. "Vehicles don't work either," Stella said, "trust me, I've tried." She continued, before sighing.

"Well, there has to be some way out of this town, and I will find it, as soon as I find my mother." Derek said, standing to his feet and brushing his pants off.

"Your mother is here too?" Stella asked.

"I'd like to think so, she wasn't on the beach when I woke up, maybe she is still at the wreck. Do you know of any way to get to the highway from here?" Derek asked, turning to Stella.

Stella laughed, and pointed downwards at the pit where the roads broke in half. "You're looking at it. Maybe this road isn't a direct way, but all roads out of the town are either destroyed, or blocked off, there is no way to get out, I just told you this." Stella said with another, short laugh.

"Well, there has to be some way." Derek said, with an angry sigh.

"Maybe…" Stella said, trailing off.

Derek turned to face the other direction, and immediately saw the little girl from before once again. "Hey! Wait!" Derek yelled at her, and ran off towards her, Stella following closely behind him.

The little girl took twisting turns down alleyways, long streets, tight corners, and more, and after what seemed like hours of running after to her, Derek lost her.

"Dammit." Derek said, struggling to catch his breath, it was then that he heard the groan of what sounded like metal gates.

"Do you hear that?" Stella asked, walking towards the end of the alleyway. "Hey, Derek, I think I know where your girl went." Stella declared.

Derek, after catching his breath, walked towards Stella's voice, and eventually found her, standing in front of a set of iron gates, and directly after that, a hospital.

Derek walked off towards the hospital entrance, and turned around, when he saw Stella wasn't following him.

"I don't do hospitals." Stella said, with a shaky tone.

"Would you rather wait out here, unprotected?" Derek asked.

Stella sighed, and jogged up to Derek.

"If anything bad happens, I'm gone." Stella said, as she, and Derek, pushed upon the large entrance doors to Alchemilla.

"Fair enough." Derek said, as he walked into the waiting room of the building.

It was deserted, like everything else. A fine layer of dust covered everything, and spiders had made their home, almost everything was covered in thick webs. It was then, that Derek had an uneasy feeling in his gut, like, that maybe they weren't supposed to be here.

"Listen, when we find the little girl, we are going, I promise." Derek said, turning to Stella, and she nodded.

Derek walked over to the receptionist's desk, and peered down at the dust, nothing out of the ordinary was here, except a first-aid kit, which Derek knew would come in handy, he picked it up, and set it in his backpack. Derek then ran his fingers through the dust, trying to make an estimate of just how long the hospital was deserted. On his fingers, a thick layer of dust had accumulated, which Derek took to think that the hospital had been deserted for quite some time.

"Hey, look what I found." Stella said, as she began to pull a hospital map off a notice board. "It could come in handy." Stella said with a smile, turning to Derek as she folded the map up, and stuck it into her back pocket.

"You could be right, now, if I was a little girl, where would I go?" Derek asked himself, as he began to look around the hospital, it was dank, and musty, and it looked as if things hadn't been touched in quite some time, it was then, that Derek saw footprints leading towards a pair of double doors in the dust.

"She went this way." Derek said, as he walked towards the doors, and pushed them open, just in time to see the little girl dart around a corner.

"WAIT, we want to help you!" Stella called, as she ran ahead of Derek, and round the bend of the corner, with Derek following closely behind her.

Just as they both rounded the corner, the little girl slipped inside an elevator, and by the time they reached the doors, they were shut. Derek looked up, watching the display needle travel all the way up to floor three. Once the lift had reached its destination, Derek began to press the 'up' button on the control panel, but nothing happened.

"Fuck, it's not working." Derek said angrily.

Stella pulled the map out of her back pocket, and unfolded it, and began to skim over the floor plans. "There!" Stella said, placing a finger firmly down on the map. "There is a stairwell." She stated with a smile, as she folded the map back up, and returned it to her back pocket. Having memorized which door it was, she marched towards it, and rattled the handle. "It's locked." Stella said with a sigh.

"Well, there has got to be a key around here somewhere." Derek said with hope, as he walked over to Stella and removed the map from her back pocket.

Derek unfolded it, and began to search over it, with hope that one of the rooms would stand out to him. "The doctors office, wouldn't he have spare keys to every room?" Derek asked Stella, and she walked over to him, joining Derek on the search over the map. "There is a janitor's closet too; the probability of master keys being there is more likely than the doctor's office." Stella explained.

"If we split up, it would take us half the time." Derek said, turning to look down at Stella, she was a few inches shorter than him, but tall enough that he could view her face without any trouble, she winced at the thought, and Derek, he really didn't like it either. "Here," Derek started, removing the wrench from his pocket, "take this with you, I can do without it, and we will meet back here, in five minutes." Derek finished with a smile.

Stella nodded slowly, before taking the wrench, they both stood quietly for a few moments, before Stella nodded, and headed towards the north end of the hallway, and Derek walked back into the reception hall. Once in the reception hall, Derek folded up the map, and placed it in his now empty pocket; he then vaulted over the receptionist's desk, and easily pushed his way through the dry-rotted door into the medicine room.

Many bottles of different types of medicine were smashed on the floor, while others, and were clearly missing from their place. This gave Derek hope, hope that more people were here other than the little girl. It was then, that Derek's mission was clear, he didn't know why he wanted to find the girl so bad in till this very moment, he thought that maybe, he hoped, that perhaps the little girl knew where his mother was, and that she, could point him in the right direction. "Mom, I hope you're all right." Derek said to himself with a sigh, before climbing over a turned over medicine wrack, and pushing his way into the doctor's office.

The doctor's office was more clean and tided up than the rest of the hospital, a small desk stood at the far end of the room, and on it, a golden plaque that read 'Dr. Michael Kauffman'. Derek didn't want to waste time, and he quickly walked behind the desk, dropped down to his knees, and began to search through the drawers, he found a flashlight in one of them, which he quickly pocketed, and everything else he came across was useless. All of the drawers, except one, were open. Derek began to pull on the locked drawer, and it did nothing but shift in its locked position. Derek groaned, and began to search the top of the desk for anything, anything that could help Derek break the lock, and he found it, in the form of a letter opener. Derek smiled to himself in relief, and quickly grabbed the letter opener, and jammed it into the lock. He began to twist it, and turn it, as well as jimmy it, in till he heard a distinctive crack, and lock broke.

Derek quickly removed the letter opener, and then pulled open the drawer, and to his relief, a large number of keys on a key ring laid neatly against papers. A small tag on one side of the key ring, read 'master set', and Derek quickly picked up the keys, and walked to the door way, which would take him back into the hall where he would meet Stella. Derek began fiddling with the keys, in till he found the right one that would fit the lock, he entered the key, turned it, and the door groaned open, he then removed the keys from the lock, and pocketed the ring, to his amazement, Stella was already waiting for him in the hallway.

"I hope you had better luck than me." Stella said, as Derek walked over to their meeting place.

"I did, I found the keys." Derek said with a smile, and Stella smiled back.

"Great, let's get going then?" Stella asked, and Derek nodded.

They walked over to the stairway door, entered the appropriate key into the lock, and turned it, the door swung open with a groan, and both Derek and Stella jumped, not expecting the door to swing open like that. After they got over the shock of being scared, they both laughed, and continued walking, as soon as Derek stepped foot into the stairwell, a pounding sensation formed in his head, causing him to fall over in pain. He grasped at his head, and he yelled with pain.

"Oh god, oh fuck, my head." Derek yelled, as he continued to grab his head with both hands, his face was reddened with pain, and his eyes shed tears.

Before Derek blacked out, he heard Stella screaming his name, as well as what sounded like a police siren, ringed in his ears.


	5. Chapter Five- Nightmare

Chapter Five  
-Nightmare-

Derek awoke suddenly, to find that his surroundings had drastically changed, and to find that Stella, was nowhere in sight. Derek groaned, as the aftermath of his headache set in with a terrible numbness feeling. He struggled to his feet, and began to brush himself off, as well as get a good look of his surroundings.

"Usually, when scary things get scarier, it's time to run." Derek said, as he turned around to exit through the stairwell door, only to find, it was no longer there.

"What the hell?" Derek asked himself, as he began to bang on the newly formed wall. "This is impossible!" Derek screamed, as he continued to bang on the wall. It was then, that his phone that lay still in its place, deep in his pocket, began to buzz with static.

Derek shivered, as his senses began to pick up the presence of someone behind him. He turned slowly, to find a nurse, standing in an awkward position, its face, shrouded in bandages. "Hel-l-lo?" Derek asked, and that's when the creature moved out of its frozen stance, and struck. The scalpel it held sliced its way easily down Derek's forearm, and as quick as the cut had formed, blood began to flow. Derek winced in pain, and grabbed his bleeding forearm, just as a large sword like object, struck down upon the nurse, slicing her body easily in half.

Derek jumped back, just in time to miss the end of the sword. As the two halves of the nurse fell either direction, the creature that had killed the nurse, was visible. It had three faces, all formed into one, its torso was the width of three people standing next to each other, the same with the rest of its body.

"Oh hell no." Derek said, shaking with fear, he quickly ducked beneath the sword of the creature, and ran up the stairs to the second floor.

As Derek reached the second floor door, and entered it, his phone buzzed like crazy, as a nurse carrying a pipe began to walk towards him; it stopped about three feet away from the man, and then swung its long pipe. Derek narrowly missed it, and turned, opened the door across the hall, and entered it. Derek quickly shut the door behind him, and latched it shut, breathing heavily with fear. He slid down the door, to his knees, and quickly removed the backpack from his shoulders; he opened it, and withdrew a first aid kit. It was then, that he realized how much damage was truly dealt to his arm.

"I will probably need stitches." Derek said to himself, as he began to search through the first aid kit, and not so lucky enough, he came across a needle, and thread.

"It's like, this place wants me to do it myself…I can't just let an open wound like this stay open in a place like this..." Derek said, staring up at his dirty surroundings.

Derek quickly wiped down the bleeding wound, before threading the needle. He hesitated, before he inserted the needle into his skin. As soon as he did, he screamed loudly with pain, and he already struggled with consciousness. It seemed like hours later before he finally finished. Derek looked down to what he had done, it wasn't bad, and he was pretty sturdy with the sealing of the wound, his arm was sore now, and reddened with the poking and prodding of the needle. Derek stood up, and as soon as he did, a small pocket light fell from the ceiling. He bent over, and picked it up.

"Fuck this place." Derek grunted, now realizing that this twisted nightmarish version of the hospital probably did want to see Derek inflict pain upon himself. Derek pushed the pocket light into the breast pocket of his jacket, and turned it on. Now, the area was more illuminated.

Derek quickly pushed the remnants of the first aid kit back into his back pack, not caring about neatness at the moment, he flung the backpack across his shoulder after it was zipped up, and he then began to explore the room more. Upon exploring more, Derek had come to the conclusion that this was an old filing room, and, that it was surprisingly cleaner than the rest of the decaying building. Also, when exploring, he noticed that one of the filing cabinet drawers had been open, and a file lay open and scattered across the others. Derek quickly began to read over them.

'Lacerations to face and body, breakage in neck, punctured lung, the patient is on a respirator, family members know the extent of patient 105'sinjuries, and have agreed to remove the respirator this evening of October 25th 2012. Patient 105 will most likely die soon after.'

"Why would someone be reading this?" Derek asked himself, as he pushed all the files into a pile, as he did, a picture fell out, and landed to the ground, reverse side up, Derek knelt to pick it up, but as soon as he did, he heard a human like scream come from the hallway, he quickly picked the picture up, bending it in half in the process, and pushed it into his pocket, unseen.

Derek stood up, and when he did, he spotted a silver revolver on a desk in front of him, Derek quickly moved to it, and noted that it was loaded, and next to it, sat an extra pair of shells. He pocked the shells, and then the revolver, but before doing so, he clicked on the safety. Derek then, slowly, walked towards the exit door, and pushed it open, to find a blood bath. Dead nurses littered the hall, piles upon piles of them, and between them all, looked like a large scrap mark, which could only come from one thing, a large knife.

Derek walked down the hallway, in the opposite direction of the scrap marks, and eventually came across what looked like a woman, cowering in the corner. Derek walked up to the figure, and once he was close enough, he realized who it was. "Mom?" Derek asked, and sure enough, his mother turned his head, and looked up at him.

"Derek, you're alive!" His mother exclaimed, hopping to her feet, and wrapping her arms around her son quickly, before pulling back, and examining him for injuries, she didn't notice his arm. "You're alright?" She asked, and Derek nodded.

"Mom, what the hell is this place?" Derek asked.

"I have no idea, this is defiantly not the place I looked at in the brochures, even the fog outside, it's completely different from everything I have seen, and did you wake up at the accident?" His mother asked, and Derek responded with a head shake.

"I woke up at some kind of beach, and not long after that, I met a girl, her name is Stella, she is trapped her too, just like us. She says there is no way out of here." Derek explained.

"There is always a way." His mother said reassuringly. "Where is this girl?" She asked.

"No, I blacked out, and when I came too, she was gone. She said hospitals weren't her thing, I think when the hospital transformed she ran, I don't blame her." Derek said, looking down, and sighing.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here too, now, we just need to find the exit, and we can be on our way." His mother said.

Derek pulled back from her grasp, and pulled the map out of his pocket. He began to search over it, and after a few minutes, he pin pointed where they were, and how far the exit was. "This way." Derek stated, and he began to lead the way.

The further they traveled, the darker it got, but, the longer they traveled, the more the surrounding area began to fade back into what it once was. The red, blood stained walls, began to transform back into a musty white, and the grated floor was slowly starting to reform as tile. It felt like years in till they finally reached the main exit, and to their anger, it was locked. "I have a master set." Derek stated, as he folded up the map, and put it in his back pocket, before withdrawing the set of keys. He tried each one twice, before he realized that none of them worked.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Derek's mother announced, before cupping her mouth, and running off to the left, and down the hall. Derek followed quickly after.

His mother darted into the women's bathroom door, and Derek stood outside of it, waiting, and waiting, and waiting. After what seemed like a half hour, Derek walked into the bathroom. "Mom?" Derek asked, but he didn't expect to see someone else in the bathroom.

"She isn't here anymore Derek, she awoke from this nightmare." The little girl in which Derek had searched for responded. She sat upon the bathroom sink, her legs crossed, and a smile planted on her lips. She looked so familiar to Derek, but he couldn't remember where from.

"How do you know my name?" Derek asked.

"If you need to ask, you need not know, if you need not ask, you already know." The little girl responded with a giggle.

"Okay, than what the hell is this place, and what do you mean, 'awoke from this nightmare'?" Derek asked.

"If you need to ask, you need not know, if you need not ask, you already know." The little girl repeated, this time, with a fit of laughter.

"What the hell does that mean?" Derek asked, his tone reflecting his anger.

"You'll understand, soon, you'll understand." The little girl responded with a simple smile.

Derek's eyes began to feel heavy, and he struggled to stay awake, he stumbled a bit, but caught himself on the edge of the sink, just before the girl.

"You're going to wake up soon Derek. When you do, you'll be with Stella again, you can't let her decide things for you, you need to figure out things for yourself, don't let her hold you back. She is nothing to you, she is nothing. When you wake up, head for the Crawley house. You'll find answers there." The little girl revealed, and just as she did, Derek lost consciousness, and fell backwards, as soon as he did; he re-awoke, and saw Stella looking down at him.

"Where is the little girl?" Derek asked his voice groggy.

"What little girl?" Stella asked with concern.

'She is nothing to you, she is nothing', replayed in Derek's mind, "N-Nothing, it was probably something I dreamt of." Derek said, pushing off the subject.

"Nasty fall you took wasn't sure if you were going to wake up." An unfamiliar voice said.

"Derek, this is Anthony, he helped me move you here after you fell." Stella explained with a smile. Derek turned his head to Anthony, the man was in his early twenties, thick stubble covered his face, he was lanky, and his face was sullen. He had dark brown eyes, the peeked out of his long bangs. He wore mining clothes.

"Fall?" Derek asked, and Stella nodded.

"Remember, you slipped and fell backwards down the steps when we were looking for that little girl?" Stella asked, Derek was about to say no, but Anthony cut in just before he could.

"I was on my way home from the mines, when I heard Stella screaming, lucky I did, or you would most likely have been dragged here." Anthony said with a laugh.

"You work here?" Derek asked.

"Live here too, born and raised." Anthony answered with a smile.

"Then you'll know where the Crawley house is?" Derek asked.

"'Course I know where it is, it's next to the church, on the lake. Why do you ask?" Anthony questioned.

"I feel like I need to go there." Derek said, sitting up, and then standing up.

"But what about the little girl, shouldn't we find her first?" Stella asked.

Derek sighed, and then turned to Stella. "She can wait; I need to go to that house." Derek urged.

"Then let me go with you." Stella said, standing up.

"No, this is something I need to do on my own." Derek explained, and Stella sat back down, Derek then turned to Anthony.

"How do I get there?" Derek asked.

"You used to be able to get there by boat, ya see, but when the shore line receded, you can't really take boats there anymore. But, there is a longer way, or, at least I've heard. . ." Anthony said, trailing off.

"Well, what is it?" Derek asked, he voice less than kind.

"There used to be rumors, that beneath the lake there was tunnel, that connected the amusement park, to the church on the island, that's your best bet, but like I said, I've only heard." Anthony explained.

"It's my best bet." Derek said, more to himself.

"When are you leaving?" Stella asked, looking up to Derek.

"Right now." He responded, and headed for the door.

"Here, take this with ya, it's cold by the lake." Anthony said, removing his jacket, and tossing it towards Derek's direction.

Derek caught it, noticing a large cut in the fabric going up the left sleeve; he folded up the jacket, and held it at his side.

"Good luck." Stella said, Derek nodded in response, exited the room, and then walked into reception, before exiting the hospital all together, and walking back into the foggy world.

"This is fucking insane, Derek, taking advice from a little girl, that you met in a fucking insane place, inside a dream you had while unconsciousness. Never the less though, now, I think I am meant to go to that house. I feel drawn to it." Derek thought aloud to himself, before unfolding the jacket Anthony gave him, when he did, the light he had in his breast pocket automatically turned on.

"It wasn't a dream..." Derek said to himself, turning off the pocket light, and removing it from his shirt pocket, and then replacing it in the jacket's breast pocket, when he slid it on.

This sudden realization caused Derek to shake uncomfortably, all of the sudden, everything felt so real, and so heavy. Derek shook off the feeling, and headed down Koontz street, and then, he turned left, finding a large stand which displayed a map of the area. He investigated it, before removing a smaller map from a holding place for his own. "Lakeside Amusement, it's a hike, but it shouldn't be too bad." Derek said to himself, as he traced his finger passed the Historical Society, up the large strip of land heading past the lake, to the park itself.

_

Authors Note: With this chapter, I am proud to announce that my story, Derek's story, is about halfway to completion. Though the story is about halfway through, more things will be revealed of the characters I have released so far, and a few new ones will also make appearances. I know this chapter is early, and all the chapters after this will be released early as well. Also, on a side note, like any great Silent Hill game, I will be releasing about five or six, different endings after the completion of the story, though the main ending will be canon, I think it'd be fun to sit back and watch what could have happened. Also as well, I am proud to announce that a prequel story will be released after the completion of Derek's story, that fanfiction will be called 'Silent Hill, Maine', I won't say anything more on it yet, but that I have some ideas in mind, and that we will just have to see what I do with them.


	6. Chapter Six- Amusement

Chapter Six  
-Amusement-

Derek walked towards the Amusement Park ahead of him, it was a long walk to get there, and his feet ached like hell, but still, following Anthony's advice, Derek pushed on. Determined to find answers. It was odd, the closer he got to Lakeside, the more he was certain he heard carnival music playing, but as he entered the broken gates, Derek was sure, it was in fact carnival music. Music that was way too cheery, for a hellish place like this. The music, made his skin crawl, and it panged at places in his mind, that weren't meant to be panged at.

"Thank god, thank god, thank god boy, come here…" A raspy voice said, Derek followed the direction of the voice, and he found where it was coming from. It was the bus driver, from the crash.

Derek jogged over to where the man was sitting, upon a park bench. He clutched his arm as he bled, a twisted creature, which was deceased, laid next to the man on the ground. Derek expected that the creature and the bus driver had fought, at least the driver succeeded. "How bad is it?" Derek asked, as he pulled his back pack off, and began to remove gauze, medical wipes, and more from it.

"It isn't too deep, but I wouldn't want to keep an open wound like this exposed, especially in a fucked up place like this." The bus driver's voice was raspy, much older than his body, which Derek suspected was due to years of smoking. His father, before he died, had a voice like that as well.

Derek unraveled the gauze, and began to wrap up the man's wound tightly. It was larger and deeper than the man realized, but Derek said nothing. He didn't want to give stitches to himself, let alone give them to someone else. After Derek was done wrapping up the wound, he sealed it with a medical clasp, and then patted the man on the shoulder, and then turned to walk away.

"Where ya headed, son?" The driver asked, and Derek turned back to the man.

"Nowhere important, but I need to get there." Derek responded.

"Then let me go with ya." The driver offered, standing up, and clenching his fist around a metal pipe, in which he used as a weapon.

"You don't need to." Derek said in response, as he continued walking.

"Nonsense, you helped me, and I will help you, pay-it-forward, ya know?" The man asked with a smile, as he jogged to catch up with the boy.

"I guess so." Derek said, as he continued walking.

"Hank." The driver said.

"What?" Derek responded, confused, his mind was on different topics.

"My name. I'm honestly surprised you ain't with your mother, you are the boy from the bus, correct?" Hank asked.

"Derek, and yes, I was." Derek responded.

They walked for awhile, before they approached another display case displaying a map of the area, as well as brochures handouts for visitors. Derek took one, unfolded it, and examined all of it. A little red 'X' mark was hand drawn onto the carousel deep within the park. It would take awhile to get there, but it would be worth it. The handwriting looked like a child's, and Derek wondered if the little girl from before was giving him signs.

"We need to get to the carousel." Derek announced, and began walking, while Hank simply shrugged, and followed afterward.

This walk seemed about the same length as the one to the amusement park itself. And when they finally reached their destination, both Derek and Hank were out of breath. This wasn't enough to stop Derek, he was close to the entrance to the church, he could feel it, and without hesitation, he stepped onto the carousel, and began to inspect everything, one thing seemed out of place, and it was a large red button, which Derek pressed. The button controlled the carousel, that was clear, but it also, released a metal grating, covering a concealed entrance.

"I found what I was looking for." Derek said to Hank, as he too stepped onto the carousel, just as the other man, did a large creature, fell from the ceiling, blocking the path between Derek and Hank. It was the creature that was killing the nurses in the nightmare.

"Jesus Christ!" Hank screamed, and the creatures' attention turned from Derek, to Hank.

Hank ran, ran the other direction away from the carousel. As did Derek, figuring that he would catch up to Hank eventually. There plan worked, and they easily jumped from the carousel, onto the metal grating. The creature on the carousel staggered around, before noticing that its victims were gone. Instead of following them, the creature simply walked off of the carousel, towards the rest of the theme park.

Derek and Hank turned, and began walking down steps, into complete darkness. Derek flicked on his breast pocket light, as they walked, the light illuminated a lot, which was good, and it gave Derek hope. Hope that there was still light even in the blackest of dark. As they reached the bottom of the staircase, Derek gasped in shock, just as an army of what looked like the hospital nurses, just with different attire, focused on the light, and began to move towards the two men. Hank turned, and quickly turned off the breast pocket light, and swiftly removed it from Derek's coat. It wasn't as dark as it was before, and security lights shined in the ceiling, but they weren't bright enough to attract the nurses. Derek knew what they would have to do; they were going to have to climb through the nurses, to get to the other side.

"It ends here-" Hank started, but was immediately cut off by Derek.

"No, I plan to get through them." Derek said.

"You didn't let me finish kid, it ends here, for you." Hank said, turning to Derek with a dark look.

"The hell are you talking about?" Derek asked, and as soon as he did, a thick metal pipe was smashed against his knee. Derek screamed in pain, and fell to the ground, as Hank continued to smash Derek's knee with the pipe, each time harder, and each time caused Derek to scream louder.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Derek screamed in pain, as he held his knee, it was either broken, or severally damaged , that much was for sure, and the pain, the pain hurt worse than giving himself stitches.

"You can recover from this, and you could recover from them, me? I can't kid. I'm older, I can't heal as well as you, and I'm for damn sure, not going to die today." Hank said sternly.

"And what, you're just going to fucking leave me here to die!?" Derek screamed.

"Better you than me kid, better you than me." Hank said, as he turned back on the flashlight, and set it in front of Derek.

The creatures began to move towards the light, attracted to it, swinging their bladed weapons. The creatures formed into a pack, a pack small enough to slip by, leaving Derek alone, to fend off the creatures, as Hank easily slipped by, and disappeared up the staircase behind the moving creatures.


	7. Chapter Seven- The Crawley House

Chapter Seven

-The Crawley House-

Derek sat on the floor, surrounded by dead creatures, his gun, was out of bullets, and he simply tossed to the side, having no use for it anymore. Blood splattered the walls, and floor, as well as Derek; it was then, that he let out a cry. A cry of pain, a cry of suffering, and a cry of knowing he will never be able to get up, his knee, lay twisted in front of him, but, he knew he had to try. Derek gripped the wall for support as he stood up, it took him a few tries, but he eventually got it, when he did, he felt a short pop, as he knee reset. Thankfully, it was only dislocated. Though it felt a thousand pounds heavier, and now he walked with a limp, Derek was able to continue on his quest. Derek limped down the hallway, over dead creatures, in till he reached the stairs. He knew he wouldn't be able to walk up them, so he crawled up them, in till he reached the landing up top. Here, he got back up and continued on walking.

The church, was abandoned, and had been, for quite some time, torches remained still lit, high up positioned on hanging rafters, though there gleam was faint, it still provided enough light. It was then Derek realized he left behind his pocket light, but he didn't have time, nor strength, to go back for it. Derek walked around a large podium that was positioned atop an altar at the back of the room. On it, laid an open book, and on the open book, it a symbol was drawn, looked like it was drawn with crayon, or perhaps, marker, but looking at it made Derek's head hurt. He reached out and touched it, and when he did, something flashed through his mind, a memory, long forgotten, or perhaps, suppressed, of a little girl, a friend. Derek blinked it off, and began walking towards the exit of the building. He had no need to look at the symbol anymore.

When Derek exited the church, he entered back into a fog ridden world, and just before him, sat a large house, with a white picket fence that wrapped along the property. The house must have been beautiful, but now, it looked dark, and mysterious in the fog. Derek continued onward, opening the gate to the fence when he got there. He noticed a mailbox off to the side, with the words, 'Crawley' written across it, it featured three handprints, a large one, that was blue, a medium sized one, that was red, and a small, child handprint, that was pink. "A family lived here, was this that little girls family?" Derek asked himself, as he continued to walk towards the front door of the house. Derek didn't crawl up the front steps this time, instead, he hobbled up them, and luckily, he didn't lose his balance. Derek walked to the front door of the house, and went to enter it, only to find it was locked. Derek groaned, and turned around, it was there, before him, sat a large podium, with a key locked behind glass. Derek walked towards it, and tried to pull off the glass concealing the key, but it was no use. Below it, a combination lock sat, embedded into the podium as well. Something right next to the combination lock caught Derek's eye. It was etched into the white pain, most likely with a knife, and it was there probably in case the family ever forgot the combination, and needed the key. 'To receive the key, remember the colors, one, two, and three." Derek read to himself, and the imagine of the handprints came back to him.

The combination lock, sadly, wasn't a lettered one, and it was a three digit code. Derek began to think to himself, wondering what would be the most logical answer, and then he got it. Blue, he dragged the first combination number to the number four, red, he drug the second to three, and pink, to four as well. A slight click was heard, and the glass casing over the key unlatched and the key fell out, landing on the ground. Derek picked it up, turned around, and headed to the door again, he slid the key into the lock, and turned it, and with force, he was able to push the door open.

Derek stepped into the dusty house, and sneezed as soon as he did. Dust and him were never a friend. Derek wasn't sure why he had to come here, but in an odd way, he thought that he did belong here, and that there were answers amongst all this dust. Derek began to stumble around the house, and eventually found his way into an office. Derek walked around the desk, and sat down on the leather chair. He began to search through the desk. All Derek found was a large manila folder; Derek pulled it out, and began to search through it. Halfway through the folder, Derek came across scribbled writing. 'It will be hard, I know that now, to take another's life, in order to get one in return, but if all my research is true, it should work. Everything, I've always wanted, always had, will return to me." The message looked like it was written in haste.

Derek continued searching through the folder, and eventually came across a picture of Stella. Derek jumped back, almost out of his chair, and he stood up, sweat pouring down the back of his neck. Derek didn't know what he was looking at, in fact, he wondered if he was passed out back in the tunnel, and this was all a dream. He picked up the picture of Stella. Her smile seemed forced in the picture, and she stood next to an older looking woman, who was obviously her mother. Derek looked down at the picture, in it, Stella wore the same pink sweater, and that's when Derek thought back to the mailbox. Pink. This was Stella's house. Derek shivered, he didn't know what to say, or think, or do, but his hand involuntary moved down into his pocket, and withdrew the picture he picked up at the hospital. He unfolded the picture, and gasped in shock, dropping the picture on the table. It was a picture of injuries, a girl's injuries, a blonde girl with injuries. It was a hospital photo, probably taken for records. Which would explain why Derek found it in the records room.

"You figured it out." A female voice said, as they walked into the office.

Derek looked up to find Stella, her face pained.

"What, what is this?" Derek asked, pointing down to the folder, and the pictures.

"I thought it was obvious." Stella said slowly, a tear leaking out of her eye.

"I just, I just don't get it." Derek said, more to himself than anyone.

"If you did understand, what would you say?" Stella asked.

"I'd say, or well, I'd ask, if you were a ghost." Derek said, and Stella laughed.

"I wish I was a ghost. Things would make more sense then, and I'd be able to leave this place." Stella said, as more tears escaped her eyes.

"Then, what are you?" Derek asked.

Stella sighed, and more tears fell out of her eyes. "I'm dead, now, do you understand?" Stella asked.

"I don't get it, how are you dead, and what should I understand?" Derek asked.

"You'll understand, soon, you will, why we can't leave this place, why we are stuck here, why you have only come across a few people here, myself included. Everything happens for a reason Derek, you need to understand that. That's why she sent you here, so you could understand." Stella said with a sigh, in between her tears.

"But, I don't." Derek said, as a tears leaked out of his eyes.

Stella closed her eyes, and smiled to herself. "Maybe, you weren't meant to come here to learn, but maybe you were, but you were also sent here to do something more." Stella said with a smile, as what seemed like sunlight shined down upon her.

"What is happening Stella?" Derek asked, as more tears leaked out of his eyes.

"Can't you see, you set me free." Stella said with a smile, as she walked over to Derek, and caressed his face with her hand.

"I don't understand Stella, please, tell me what is going on." Derek urged, but instead of answering him, Stella gently pressed her lips to his, and quickly pulled away.

"Everything will make sense soon, I promise." Stella said with a smile, just before she got whisped away, in what appeared to be wind.

Derek leaned back into the desk, and cried softly, he didn't know what was happening. A dead girl had just kissed him, he was remembering a little girl he was for sure he never met before, he had just witnessed a ghost crossover, he had lost his mother, and a man blugened him with a pipe. Everything was confusing, everything didn't make sense, why was he here, why did he only see a few people while he was here, and why wasn't the town fully populated? Derek stood up, and just as he did, a large bang sounded from upstairs. Derek gulped, turned, and exited the office, and gazed up at the steps in front of him.


	8. Chapter Eight- Trium

Chapter Eight  
-Trium -

Derek slowly walked up the steps in front of him; they creaked exceptionally loud as he walked. Derek feared what was a head of him, so much, that he was shaking. He didn't know what to expect anymore, so far, he had encountered a nightmare world, an odd creature, a ghost, and so much more. His mind was in fragments, he didn't know what was real anymore, and what was fictional.

As he walked up the stairs, he came across a landing, and on it, laid a shotgun, next to a picture of Stella, and her mother, and what looked like a letter.

'I tried, and failed, and tried and failed, and I was just not able to bring back the ones I loved, the ones I cared for. When they realize what I tried to do, they will call me crazy, they will say I was better off dead, but I'm not, or, wasn't because if you are reading this. I have taken my own life.'

Derek starred down at the letter, reading it over multiple times, before bending down at picking up the shotgun. Derek understood now. Stella did something to end up here, though, her mother, wasn't here because her mother was fine. When Stella's father couldn't bring back his deceased wife and daughter, he took his own life. Perhaps, with this shotgun? He checked the barrel, it wasn't loaded, but there was a pocket sized container of bullets on the floor, which Derek picked up and pocketed.

Derek continued up the stairs, and saw that one door, out of all the others, was open. Derek hesitated, before walked up to it, and peering it. It was another staircase, leading up to the attic. Again, Derek hesitated, and then, he started to ascend the steps. When he reached the top, he noticed a figure, a woman, huddled in the corner, Derek's mother.

"Derek…" His mother said, standing to her feet, and turner, he face was distorted, and looked as if three heads were melded into one. This time though, the faces, or the face, could be seen better, it had one brown eye, a green eye, and the nose, mouth, that were so distinctive; Derek recognized them as his own.

"No, no, no, no. You were fine the last time I saw you, you were okay, how could you be, that, that, THING?" Derek screamed, instead of answering, his mother stumbled towards him, her arms outstretched. As it came closer, she, _it, _began to contort, and change. Derek winced with fright; he shook as he lifted the shotgun to his shoulder.

"I'm sorry mother." Derek said, as he loaded the barrel of the shotgun, and fired, and then quickly loaded again, and fired. Load, fire, load fire, it went on forever, in till the bullets were nearly gone. It was then, that the creature stumbled backward for the last time, and fell. Derek ran up to it, and lodged the shotgun into the creature's chest, killing it.

Derek stumbled backwards, falling to the floor, before he began to weep. It was then, that a memory, flashed through his mind. One repressed.

It began in his childhood, a young Derek, not a care in the world, was subject to listening to his parents fight. He would sometimes, lay on the ground in front of his door, his ear to the crack, listening, and sobbing to himself. It went on like this, for years, and eventually, Derek's mother, who he cared for more than his father, began to tell Derek that the reason for the fighting was because of his father. That his father hated him, and he fought with his wife because of their son. And Derek's father, told Derek the same story, only vice versa, Derek's mother was the reason behind it, not him. For years, this went on, in till a week ago, when Derek snapped. Derek, hearing his parents fighting once again, stepped out of his bedroom, walked into the kitchen, and grabbed a knife. He walked up behind his father, and killed him, stabbed him in the back, ending the man's life. Derek's mother was thankful, but little did Derek know, it was his father telling the truth. It was then, they left, and it was while they were on the run, that Derek began to doubt his mother, as she stole from a gas station as they were on the run. The money they had stolen was enough to get them a hotel room for the night, and it was there, that they realized they were both wanted for questioning.

It was Derek's mother's idea to drop the car off, and board a bus in a little old town. News must not get around much, because they had no idea who they were. It was then, not long from the town, that the bus crashed, and Derek ended up stuck in this place.

"Oh god, what have I done?" Derek asked himself, holding his head in his hands.

"You did what any boy under the influence of his parents would do, you ended your pain." A voice said, as a little girl walked up the steps, the one from before, the one from the hospital.

"Who are you?" Derek asked, once again.

"Think." The little girl responded.

"Judith." Derek said, finally remembering her.

When a child is under negative influence, it always common for one to make a playmate. In Derek's case, he created an imaginary playmate. That playmate, was the girl he now remembered, the girl who he saw in the hospital, the girl who had been giving him hints all this time. Judith.

"It's about time you remember me!" Judith said with a smile.

"I don't understand how this is possible?" Derek asked.

"This land, the land this house is built on, this land the whole town was built on, was rumored to have been a place of worship. Used in the right way, the land would create good things, used in a bad way, the land would create darkness. That is where we are now." Judith explained.

"But I still don't understand, is this real, or not?" Derek asked.

"A man, who you read writing sample from in the house in town, thought the same thing, many, many years ago. He was looking for his daughter, you, on the other hand, had been looking to remember. When the bus crashed, the town took you in, playing against your fears, to teach you." Judith explained further.

"So, the town let you come back, as a guide?" Derek asked, and Judith nodded.

"I still don't understand, how do I get out of this place?" Derek asked.

"That is why I came looking for you, I found a way to the bus crash." Judith said.

"But I don't want to go there; I want to get the fuck out of this place!" Derek yelled, and Judith winced.

"The bus crash it outside of city limits, that's your only way out." Judith explained, and Derek nodded, understanding.

"How do we get there?" Derek asked.

"It's a hike, but we should be there soon. Come on, we have to go now." Judith said, and she walked down the attic steps, and Derek followed afterward.


End file.
